


kiku

by AwayLaughing



Series: songs of monstrous grandeur and merciless devotion [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Backstory, Female Relationships, Flashbacks, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Rags to Riches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 13:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12109665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwayLaughing/pseuds/AwayLaughing
Summary: Who knew that stealing a purse of unusable money could net a new life? Who knew it would include being man-handled by bath attendants?Or - Ran tries to adjust to a new life she never even dreamed of.





	kiku

“ _You’re awful lucky girl,” the guard said. “Don’t make Hanako-gozen regret it.”_

 

* * *

 

 

“Ouch! She bit me!”

 

“Goddamnit girl – just – no I swear to lord Bishamon if you don’t stay still -”

 

Ran ignored the women in favour of trying to get away from them. “Let go of me you old goat,” she hissed. “I can bathe myself gods all dammit!”

 

“Ran,” Hanako-sama’s voice rang in the bathing house despite the fact bathing houses never rang. “What on earth are you doing?”

 

Ran could see how it looked – her clinging to a wooden post with one hand, the other wrapped around a woman’s arm which did indeed have a bite mark on it, with a second woman bodily stripping her down.

 

“They attacked me!” she said. “’m just,” she tried to recall what it was one shinobi had once said to her, “exercising my rights to bodily autonomy!” The shinobi – a tall woman with white hair and dark eyes – had said that meant being allowed to stab people before they stabbed you.

 

Ran had never actually seen a shinobi get stabbed. It seemed they caught fire more often.

 

“I see,” Hanako said. “I understand you’ve not had the privilege of visiting an onsen, however surely you are familiar with the idea of attendants?”

 

Ran was not. Rather than admit to her ignorance, she stayed silence. Hanako sighed in a way that sounded less defeated and more annoyed.

 

“Of course not. Alright then. She,” she pointed to the one with a hold on her kimono, “will undress you and deal with your rags-”

 

“-hey!”

 

“And she is the one who will deduce what it is you need exactly.”

 

“She has lice,” was the succinct reply. “She has _fleas._ ”

 

Hanako actually blinked at that. “I see, is that going to be a problem?” she asked. The woman huffed.

 

“No, lucky for you,” she said, addressing Ran. “Shinobi come through here on the way north, they’ve all the best bathing supplies. And they know their way from pests. We can’t let her into the onsen tonight anyway.”

 

Ran scoffed. “You’d never get me into one anyway!” she said. “Everyone knows bathin’ at night is bad for your health.”

 

* * *

 

 

That night, once they’d scrubbed her red and washed her hair six times and _burned all her clothing_ Ran was allowed to go back to the main eating house and rooms. Hanako was seated, surprisingly, in the dinning room at a small table. Ran figured her for the type to get private rooms.

 

“Ran-chan,” she said, gesturing to the seat across from her. “Food should be here shortly.” Food! Ran perked up at that, and Hanako sent her a stern look. “Try not to be so obvious, Ran-chan,” she said.

 

“I’m hungry,” Ran said.

 

“You’re not going to perish in the next five minutes,” Hanako said. “You really must learn to behave. Your display in the bathroom was appalling – you are not ever to do such a thing again.”

 

Ran’s face burned at the admonishment. “They grabbed me,” she said. Hanako scoffed.

 

“No, they did not. They informed you of the protocols, you insisted you didn’t need them and then you created a shameful scene. I agreed to take you with me, train you, rather than send you to the magistrate for the string of petty thefts you’re wanted for. I can change my mind at any time.”

 

Ran knew she was red – but she felt like she’d gone all white. Hanako’s voice was quiet enough people were not paying them any mind, but she felt as if the whole room was staring at her. With a jolt she realized why Hanako didn’t have a room – and she went more red.

 

“They didn’t explain nothing to me,” Ran said, keeping her voice low and her eyes down. Hanako was silent for a moment. “But I won’t do it again.”

 

A second later a bowl of udon was set down in front of her. Once the food was all placed and the servant gone, Hanako nodded.

 

“Very good. Eat up.”

 

* * *

 

 

_Her hair hurt and her feet were cold but she still didn’t dare look away from Hanako. She wasn’t going to let some old southerner scare her. Raijin couldn’t, she couldn’t._

 

“ _I understand you and your friends have been thorns in everyone’s sides for several years now,” Hanako said. “Which is a shame. Usually I would have left well enough alone but as you are a menace, it seemed best to do what I can to help the people of this fine village.”_

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the journey back to Hanako’s house was uneventful. Most nights they stayed in the little inns that spotted the countryside. The further south they got, the more strange it seemed. By the fifth night, there was no sign of the war anywhere. They hadn’t seen any shinobi in two days.

 

“How far from your house?” Ran asked that night. They didn’t have an inn to stay in here, it was something called a guest house. Basically it was a barn you let people sleep in overnight. Didn’t smell like horses or cows though, and the futon were better even than the last inn’s.

 

Way better than the blankets. Despite that, as she sat down on the patterned fabric she felt a desperate stab of longing. For Haku and Setsu and Daiji and their little too-warm or too-cold den.

 

“Another three days travel” Hanako said. “If we maintain the dawn to dusk pace, at any rate.”

 

“Ugh,” Ran said. Who knew sitting in a wagon all day could be so damn hard?

 

To her surprise, Hanako’s face twitched in a smile, but still she said, “young ladies do not say _ugh_.”

 

“I’m no lady,” Ran said.

 

“Of course not, if you were there wouldn’t be a point.”

 

Ran grinned in pleasure despite herself.

 

“Though I do have to ask – where did you learn to bite so hard?”

 

* * *

 

 

“ _I’m gonna learn how to fly,” Haku said, staring up at the sky. Daiji scoffed._

 

“ _No you’re not,” he said. “People can’t fly.”_

 

“ _There’s shinobi who can,” Haku said. “Ask Ran, she’s the one who said.”_

 

_Daiji looked over to her and she nodded._

 

“ _Huh,” Shinobu said. “You gonna learn to fly, too?”_

 

_It was Ran’s turn to scoff. “Don’t be stupid. Shinobi are already trained at our age.”_

 

_Daiji snorted at that, and reached out and smacked Haku in the stomach with his arm. “Sorry Haku, you’re stuck with us.”_

 

“ _And we’re stuck here,” Shinobu said._

 

_"Yeah yeah," Haku said. "Just you see - I'm getting out."_

**Author's Note:**

> The very direct sequel to [ab inito](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12104235), there's not too much to say here - I just wanted to set up what the consequences were and show a little more of Ran and Hanako's character at this point in their lives.


End file.
